1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety belts for motor vehicles. Specifically, the invention is a manually operated light attached to the seat belt to provide a visual indicator of seat belt use, and a key operated buckle to prevent a child from removing the seat belt while the vehicle is moving.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several other inventors have attempted to devise a satisfactory solution to the problem of verifying compliance with seat belt laws. Most of these inventions provide some sort of visual indicia, visible from either inside or outside the car, that all seat belts are being worn. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,602, issued to Gerald E. Frig, describes a seat belt tension indicator which lights a lamp when a seat belt is not being worn. Secondly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,556, issued to Jesse B. Beaird, describes a seat belt light indicator requiring the driver to operate switches corresponding to the seat position of the occupants, so that failure of the occupants to put on their seat belts causes a light to remain lit, both on the console and outside the vehicle. Thirdly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,733, issued to Thomas S. Conigliaro et al., describes a seat belt indicator system wherein the system is activated by the weight of the driver on the driver's seat, and fastening a seatbelt illuminates lights on the dashboard and on the rear of the vehicle exterior. A fourth example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,512, issued to Marcia M. Bogar, describes an alarm attaching to a seat belt, which sounds when the seat belt is unbuckled.
Other inventors have used seat belt indicators working in conjunction with additional safety features. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,904, issued to Robert P. Ellis et al., describes a system for providing an electrical signal indicative of whether a seat belt is fastened. The signal can then be used to vary the activation of an airbag.
Some inventors have tried to provide unique incentives to induce children to wear their seat belts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,994, issued to Brent D. Heninger, describes a clip mounted to a seat belt having a pressure switch. Activation of the pressure switch, indicating that the seat belt is being worn, enables a video game or other incentive device to be used by the child.
At least two inventors devised various visual indicia that a seat belt is properly fastened. U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,713, issued to Wendell C. Lane Jr. et al., describes a seat belt indicator having red and green lights, with the red light lit if a buckle is not completely fastened, and a green light is lit if it is completely fastened, to ensure that a person buckling a child into a seat does not leave the buckle only partially fastened. U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,067, issued to William W. Turvill et al., describes a child seat belt buckle having a male member with two different colors, and a female member with a hole for viewing the colors. As the buckle is fastened, the first color becomes visible through the opening. The second color then becomes visible, confirming that the buckle is properly buckled.
At least three inventors have attempted to ensure that seat belts are properly worn by developing tamper-resistant buckles.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 359,709, issued to Thomas B. Miller, shows a childproof seat belt lock. U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,711, issued to Wilbur R. Adams, describes a seat belt buckle having a three part button, all three parts of which must be operated simultaneously to release the buckle, making the buckle difficult for a child to operate. Lastly, International application WO 93/20728 describes a childproof seat belt locking device having a housing fitting over the buckle, with a pressure release button over the seat belt's release button. The button requires too much pressure for a small child to press it.
Another invention intended to improve the safety provided by seat belts includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,561, issued to Keith T. Smith et al., describing a child-resistant clamp for securing the lap and shoulder belts together. The invention prevents a child seat from being thrown forward due to slack in the shoulder
Other related inventions include U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,258, issued to John H. Morse et al., describing a belt with a plurality of light emitting diodes around its length, and a manually activated alarm, for use by joggers and others who work around traffic at night; U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,190, issued to Judy M. Weightman et al., describing a decorative padded seat belt cover; U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,382, issued to Annette M. Barbera, describing an illuminated pet harness having a fiber optic core, illuminated by a bulb at one end of the fiber optic wire; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,413, issued to James Coughlin, describing a light for a marine vest.
None of the above inventions describes the combination of a manually operated light attached to a seat belt and a key-operated seat belt buckle.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a seat belt with light and lock solving the aforementioned problems is desired.